A64 laptop suggestions please

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bx.Cornwell
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Bx.Cornwell

anyone have any suggestions on a good AMD64 laptop? brand / model / basic
specs (including video chipset) / comments

thanks in advance,
Bx.C
 
anyone have any suggestions on a good AMD64 laptop? brand / model / basic
specs (including video chipset) / comments
Click to expand...

Acer do some nice ones, have a look on their site.

K
 
K said:
Acer do some nice ones, have a look on their site.
Click to expand...

Agreed. A mate has just bought a 2GHz Centrino from then and it looks
alright... compared to some other brands it was a good price too.

Ben
 
| anyone have any suggestions on a good AMD64 laptop? brand / model / basic
| specs (including video chipset) / comments
|
| thanks in advance,
| Bx.C
|
|

Best bang for the buck out there in A64 laptops right now is the eMachines
m6809. If bought from Best Buy, it is $1399 after rebate.

A64 3200+
512MB RAM
80GB 4200RPM HD (slow HD, but easy to change)
4x DVD+/-RW
15.4" WxGA widescreen displayed
*
AWESOME Radeon mobility 9600 graphics!!!!
*
I score consistent 1850+ on PCPitstop with this machine, and have scored
over 1900 with some minor overclocking. 3dMark2001 scores over 12000.

Battery life is only 2-2.5 hours, but it is intended as a desktop
replacement.

Also good is the m6805, which is identical except for A64 3000+, 60GBHD
(also 4200RPM, but some users report getting 5400RPM instead), and the lack
of a DVD burner (it has DVD-rom/CDRW combo drive). I chose the m6809 over
the m6805 because the price difference was only $150.
 
Ben Pope said:
Agreed. A mate has just bought a 2GHz Centrino from then and it looks
alright... compared to some other brands it was a good price too.
Click to expand...

centrino isn't amd64...

the Ferarri 3200 looks nice.... but i don't want that to be my only option
for AMD64 notebooks / tablets
 
|
| HP has a nice one available with a very high res screen option on
| http://www.hpshopping.com
|
| Look for "zv5000z" series.
|

I almost bought that one, but it has a far inferior video card than my m6809
and was more expensive configured similarly.
 
Bx.Cornwell said:
centrino isn't amd64...
Click to expand...

Well done.

I was referring to the general build quality - clearly Centrino is not
AMD64.
the Ferarri 3200 looks nice.... but i don't want that to be my only option
for AMD64 notebooks / tablets
Click to expand...


The Ferrari one is pure tart!

:-p

Ben
 
Ben Pope said:
Well done.

I was referring to the general build quality - clearly Centrino is not
AMD64.


The Ferrari one is pure tart!

:-p
Click to expand...

i don't really care for the color to be Ferarri Red... now a silver would be
good... but then again, everyone's doing a little silver these days...
perhaps the route of the Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP line? a cobalt blue
(metallic) would be nice... or heck.. give me a metallic green even...

....guess i'll keep lookin around...
Ben
Click to expand...

just a curious sidenote... are you the same person from
alt.comp.periphs.keyboards ?
 
Jason Cothran said:
|
| HP has a nice one available with a very high res screen option on
| http://www.hpshopping.com
|
| Look for "zv5000z" series.
|

I almost bought that one, but it has a far inferior video card than my m6809
and was more expensive configured similarly.
Click to expand...

yah, i believe i saw your e-machine at BestBuy the other day.... i didn't
look too closely at the amd64 laptops when i went over there though.... just
noticed that out of the entire back wall that they had filled end to end
with laptops, i only saw two Athlon64's....

i guess i have a few options right now...
 
Bx.Cornwell said:
i don't really care for the color to be Ferarri Red... now a silver would
be good... but then again, everyone's doing a little silver these days...
perhaps the route of the Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP line? a cobalt blue
(metallic) would be nice... or heck.. give me a metallic green even...

...guess i'll keep lookin around...
Click to expand...

Pearlescent came to mind, but I'm not sure if it would work. Now that would
be tart. You could have chrome bits too :-)
just a curious sidenote... are you the same person from
alt.comp.periphs.keyboards ?
Click to expand...

Yep.

You should have noticed from the sig :-)

Ben
 
|
| | >
| > | >
| > |
| > | HP has a nice one available with a very high res screen option on
| > | http://www.hpshopping.com
| > |
| > | Look for "zv5000z" series.
| > |
| >
| > I almost bought that one, but it has a far inferior video card than my
| m6809
| > and was more expensive configured similarly.
| >
| >
|
| yah, i believe i saw your e-machine at BestBuy the other day.... i didn't
| look too closely at the amd64 laptops when i went over there though....
just
| noticed that out of the entire back wall that they had filled end to end
| with laptops, i only saw two Athlon64's....
|
| i guess i have a few options right now...
|
|

I think they only carry a total of three. The m6809, m6805, and a Compaq
very very similar to the zv5000z.
 
|
| HP has a nice one available with a very high res screen option on
| http://www.hpshopping.com
|
| Look for "zv5000z" series.
|

I almost bought that one, but it has a far inferior video card than my m6809
and was more expensive configured similarly.
Click to expand...
What about the Compaq Presario R3000Z series? They are similarly
priced and in some cases less than the e-machines. The big difference
i see between them is that the Compaq has bluetooth and 64 meg
Geforece 4 togo Video. They also have a really nice 15 widescreen
display that looks very sharp, and you can get the 12 volt battery
that will give you extended battery life. This is the one i am leaning
towards though the e-machines is nice too
 
| On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 11:31:08 -0400, "Jason Cothran"
|
| >
| >| >
| >|
| >| HP has a nice one available with a very high res screen option on
| >| http://www.hpshopping.com
| >|
| >| Look for "zv5000z" series.
| >|
| >
| >I almost bought that one, but it has a far inferior video card than my
m6809
| >and was more expensive configured similarly.
| >
| What about the Compaq Presario R3000Z series? They are similarly
| priced and in some cases less than the e-machines. The big difference
| i see between them is that the Compaq has bluetooth and 64 meg
| Geforece 4 togo Video. They also have a really nice 15 widescreen
| display that looks very sharp, and you can get the 12 volt battery
| that will give you extended battery life. This is the one i am leaning
| towards though the e-machines is nice too

Exactly why I didn't buy one. The GeForce MX 440 video is horrible (let
alone the 420) in comparison to the Radeon 9600. Of course if you will be
using no 3d apps, that won't be an issue. The eMachines also has the 15.4
inch widescreen. Configured the same (except of course the video), the
compaq is $120 cheaper before rebates. The Radeon 9600 was well worth that
$120 to me, but of course I put the 3d accelerator to use. After rebate
(m6809 purchased from Best Buy), the eMachines is $100 less, so I actually
got better video for less (after 6-8 weeks lol).
 
Jason Cothran said:
|
| | >
| > | >
| > |
| > | HP has a nice one available with a very high res screen option on
| > | http://www.hpshopping.com
| > |
| > | Look for "zv5000z" series.
| > |
| >
| > I almost bought that one, but it has a far inferior video card than my
| m6809
| > and was more expensive configured similarly.
| >
| >
|
| yah, i believe i saw your e-machine at BestBuy the other day.... i didn't
| look too closely at the amd64 laptops when i went over there though....
just
| noticed that out of the entire back wall that they had filled end to end
| with laptops, i only saw two Athlon64's....
|
| i guess i have a few options right now...
|
|

I think they only carry a total of three. The m6809, m6805, and a Compaq
very very similar to the zv5000z.
Click to expand...

when i used the "Find by specs" feature at HP's website, and asked for
brand="Compaq" and processor="Athlon64".... they came up with 5 Compaqs, and
all 5 had Intel processors.... so... i was slightly under the impression
that Compaq had no Athlon64 notebooks (yet).... guess i could look again...
(then again, i like the look of the HP's over the Compaqs anyway... haven't
yet decided where i rate the look of the emachines yet... gonna have to
visit BestBuy again)
 
Jason Cothran said:
| On Mon, 7 Jun 2004 11:31:08 -0400, "Jason Cothran"
|
| >
| >| >
| >|
| >| HP has a nice one available with a very high res screen option on
| >| http://www.hpshopping.com
| >|
| >| Look for "zv5000z" series.
| >|
| >
| >I almost bought that one, but it has a far inferior video card than my
m6809
| >and was more expensive configured similarly.
| >
| What about the Compaq Presario R3000Z series? They are similarly
| priced and in some cases less than the e-machines. The big difference
| i see between them is that the Compaq has bluetooth and 64 meg
| Geforece 4 togo Video. They also have a really nice 15 widescreen
| display that looks very sharp, and you can get the 12 volt battery
| that will give you extended battery life. This is the one i am leaning
| towards though the e-machines is nice too

Exactly why I didn't buy one. The GeForce MX 440 video is horrible (let
alone the 420) in comparison to the Radeon 9600. Of course if you will be
using no 3d apps, that won't be an issue. The eMachines also has the 15.4
inch widescreen. Configured the same (except of course the video), the
compaq is $120 cheaper before rebates. The Radeon 9600 was well worth that
$120 to me, but of course I put the 3d accelerator to use. After rebate
(m6809 purchased from Best Buy), the eMachines is $100 less, so I actually
got better video for less (after 6-8 weeks lol).
Click to expand...

i find myself asking... why have i been wanting an nVidia chip over an ATI
chip?... and the only answer i can come up with, is... loyalty? i'm still
running a Diamond Viper V550 AGP videocard (RIVA TNT) in my home computer (a
monster dino)....

perhaps i should try the Radeon chips once?.... the e-Machine does sound
good... and in-expensive..... maybe i'll look at their website in a day or
two, to see how much of the machine is customizable...
 
Ben Pope said:
Pearlescent came to mind, but I'm not sure if it would work. Now that would
be tart. You could have chrome bits too :-)
Click to expand...

pearl.... hmmm..... nah....
i bet, though, that they start coming out with "customizable notebook
covers", like Nokia phone covers.... choose your own look... a different
look everyday.... it'd be a good idea, considering how often the covers get
scratched up anyway... i saw Logitech (i think) had a mouse that had
swappable colored covers

Yep.

You should have noticed from the sig :-)

Ben
Click to expand...

well.. the sig looks slightly familiar... but more familiar is that last
name... how many "Pope"s do i know? hehe
 
|
| i find myself asking... why have i been wanting an nVidia chip over an ATI
| chip?... and the only answer i can come up with, is... loyalty? i'm still
| running a Diamond Viper V550 AGP videocard (RIVA TNT) in my home computer
(a
| monster dino)....
|
| perhaps i should try the Radeon chips once?.... the e-Machine does sound
| good... and in-expensive..... maybe i'll look at their website in a day or
| two, to see how much of the machine is customizable...
|

Funny you should say that. I shared your feelings of "brand loyalty". This
is my first ATI GPU. My three desktops have (oddly enough) a v550, a
GeForce2 GTS, and a GeForce4 Ti4600. Unfortunately, nVidia has fallen
behind, as much as I hate to say it. I can tell you, I am very impressed
with this Radeon mobility 9600, of course that's just my opinion.

As far as seeing how customizable the emachine lappies are, I can save you a
trip. They can't be customized straight from them. In fact, you can't even
buy straight from them. Using the buy link on their site directs you to
either J&R Music World or Best Buy. I would guess they don't customize
because the machines are actually fully built by Arima.
 
[email protected] said:
As far as seeing how customizable the emachine lappies are, I can save you a
trip. They can't be customized straight from them. In fact, you can't even
buy straight from them. Using the buy link on their site directs you to
either J&R Music World or Best Buy. I would guess they don't customize
because the machines are actually fully built by Arima.
Click to expand...

Exactly. That's why I opted for the HP yesterday. I finally made up my
mind and ordered one configured like I wanted it. Sorry, but The e-machines
boxes strike me as pure mass-market cheap, whereas the HP is physically
more appealing, seems to be better constructed, has a much stronger name
and support network behind it, etc. Yes, the video is not state-of-the-art,
but I'm buying a notebook to do work on, not play video games. I need the 64-
bit CPU capability, I'm not just buying it for the "cool factor" or as a
"desktop replacement" system.
 
| In article <[email protected]>,
(e-mail address removed)
| says...
| > As far as seeing how customizable the emachine lappies are, I can save
you a
| > trip. They can't be customized straight from them. In fact, you can't
even
| > buy straight from them. Using the buy link on their site directs you to
| > either J&R Music World or Best Buy. I would guess they don't customize
| > because the machines are actually fully built by Arima.
|
| Exactly. That's why I opted for the HP yesterday. I finally made up my
| mind and ordered one configured like I wanted it. Sorry, but The
e-machines
| boxes strike me as pure mass-market cheap, whereas the HP is physically
| more appealing, seems to be better constructed, has a much stronger name
| and support network behind it, etc. Yes, the video is not
state-of-the-art,
| but I'm buying a notebook to do work on, not play video games. I need the
64-
| bit CPU capability, I'm not just buying it for the "cool factor" or as a
| "desktop replacement" system.

Then you definately made a good choice. The sole deciding factor for me was
the video card. All the benchmarks I looked at rated the HP slightyly higher
on everything except 3D performance, which was not even close. I wanted the
HP, but needed much more than the antiquated 420/440MX could offer.
 
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